The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Chapter 177

My attempts to delay entering the water worked well enough.

After all, visiting the beach isn’t just about playing in the water. We ate snacks, ran around, and soaked up the sun for a while before finally cooling off in the waves.

I don’t remember who entered the water first. By the time I realized it, I was already in the sea myself.

How long had it been since I last visited the ocean? Not just a few years—probably in a previous life. During my time in the palace, the thought of visiting such a place never even occurred to me.

Despite always teasing Alice for being overly tense, it seemed I had been just as nervous. I wasn’t even sure if I managed to maintain my usual neutral expression during the fun. Claire and Alice, on the other hand, looked like they were having the time of their lives.

We didn’t venture too far into the water, sparing us the need to actually swim. Perhaps Claire had been considerate of that.

---

“Mia Crowfield.”

Of course, some people firmly refused to go into the water, sitting on the sidelines with a resolute expression—or so I thought.@@@@

“Mmgh?!”

Mia Crowfield wasn’t as composed as she appeared. With her cheeks puffed out, full of fruit, she looked like she might choke when I addressed her. I felt a little guilty for startling her.

“May I sit here?”

The beach’s sand was surprisingly fine, almost as if someone had gathered only the softest grains. There were no sharp rocks or debris in sight. Near Mia, several pairs of slippers lay scattered, discarded by others when they’d decided to go barefoot into the water.

“A-ah, yes, of course,” she replied after hurriedly swallowing her fruit.

I pushed my damp hair behind my ears and sat down beside her, making sure to lay out a mat. There was also a parasol providing shade, though the fine sand had started creeping onto the mat, carried by the breeze.

Mia held a plate, likely to keep the fruit safe from the sand. Though I hadn’t intended to notice, her legs were also covered in a thin layer of sand.

“Do you not plan to go into the water?”

It seemed like a waste, considering she was already dressed in a swimsuit.

Water from my hair trickled onto the mat, forming a small puddle. A few grains of sand floated momentarily before settling at the bottom.

“Well...” Mia hesitated. “I’ve never been in the water before. It’s a bit... intimidating.”

Fair enough. Plenty of people come to the ocean but never set foot in the waves, content to simply stare at the water.

“I see,” I replied simply.

---

Silence fell between us.

Why did I sit here, of all places?

“I spent the entire break locked in my room, thinking about it. Maybe I could’ve had a normal life with loving parents... but then I realized that life probably wouldn’t have lasted.”

Her voice turned hollow.

“My father... he used drugs, and those children... How did my mother see him? Did she view him as just a tool? Or did she truly love him? Could anyone truly love a man like that? Maybe her love became blind devotion after he died, because that gave her a single purpose—revenge.”

“You’ve felt that atmosphere?” I asked.

“Yes. Every time I spoke with her, she’d talk about revenge. I used to think it was normal, but... why wouldn’t she talk about anything else? Why did she avoid ever speaking about my father?”

Mia’s grip on her tray slackened. I quickly caught it before it could fall. She murmured a quiet “thank you” and continued.

“So, I tried. I brought him up during a conversation with her.”

She paused, her voice trembling.

“She screamed, covering her ears.”

“...”

“That’s when I realized—my life hasn’t been okay. Not even close.”

---

What could I say to that? Her honesty was appreciated, but I hadn’t expected such a heavy conversation.

“Do you resent me for killing your father?” I asked after a moment.

Mia didn’t answer right away. Instead, she posed her own question.

“Did you ever consider sparing him?”

“...No,” I admitted. If he’d been even remotely redeemable, I would’ve refused the mission and fled. But every piece of evidence painted him as irredeemable.

“This discussion is going in circles,” I concluded.

“It is,” Mia agreed. “But at least... we understand each other now.”

“Yeah.”

“And... I’ve found something new to do. Something other than revenge.”

“I hope it goes well for you.”

“It has to.”

I handed the tray of fruit back to Mia. Only then did she seem to realize what she’d shared, her face turning red.

For some reason, it felt like calling her by her first name from now on would be just right.